Henry van Dyke, 1852 – 1933
Van Dyke graduated from Princeton University (1873) and Princeton Theological Seminary (1877), and was professor of English literature at the University for 24 years (1899 – 1923). He chaired the committee that wrote the first Presbyterian printed liturgy in 1906, was appointed by President Wilson as Minister to the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1913, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He wrote several volumes of poetry, some of which were hymns, including “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” to be sung to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.
Henry van Dyke quotes:
A friend is what the heart needs all the time.
Henry van Dyke
Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love, to work, to play, and to look up at the stars.
Henry van Dyke
Happiness is inward, and not outward; and so, it does not depend on what we have, but on what we are.
Henry van Dyke
It is better to desire the things we have than to have the things we desire.
Henry van Dyke
Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live.
Henry van Dyke
The Bible teaches that God owns the world. He distributes to every man according to His own good pleasure, conformably to general laws.
Henry van Dyke
The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.
Henry van Dyke
There is a loftier ambition than merely to stand high in the world. It is to stoop down and lift mankind a little higher.
Henry van Dyke
Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.
Henry van Dyke
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.
Henry van Dyke
